People
Independent Oil and Gas E&P company Gulfport Energy Corp. has appointedJames D. (Jim) Palm their new chief executive officer. Palm comes to Gulfport after 30 years in various management roles at Gulf Oil, Ricks Exploration Co., and others. In 1995, Palm founded Crescent Exploration, L.L.C., an independent oil and gas company operating onshore.
Faubel
Baker Hughes has made a number of organizational changes effective Jan. 1, 2006.William P. “Wil” Faubel will be appointed president of Baker Atlas, succeeding David H. Barr who was acting as interim president of Baker Atlas since August 2005. Faubel will report to Barr, who is also group president, Drilling and Evaluation. Faubel has a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering, and has held a variety of sales and management positions within the Baker Hughes organization. The company also appointed Charles S. “Charlie” Wolley to president of Centrilift, a post that Faubel is exiting to assume his new role. Wolley will report directly to Douglas J. Wall, president of Completions and Production.
Milt Childress has been named vice president, Strategic Planning and Business Development, for EnPro Industries. In this role, Childress will be responsible for acquisition initiatives, strategic planning processes, and other business development activities.
Subsea 7 has appointedAllen L. Stevens a director of the company. Stevens, a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law and Business schools, brings to this role many years experience in shipping, finance, and management. He has held previous senior executive and management positions with Great Lakes Transport Ltd., McLean Industries Inc. and Sea-Land Service Inc.
Heerema Marine Contractors has reported thatJohn B. Reed will re-join the company as chief executive officer. Reed will replace Hein Mulder, who is retiring in the first half of 2006. Reed started with the Heerema Group in 1981, and has held several management positions in various divisions during his career. His most recent position was as Chief Executive Officer of Intec Engineering, a division of Heerema.
Companies
Fugro's Geo Celtic.
Fugro has signed a long-term charter agreement with E. Forland Shipowners for a new-build 3-D seismic vessel that will be complete by mid 2007. The vessel, known as the Geo Celtic, will contain all Fugro-owned seismic equipment, and will have a deck design suitable for new seismic equipment that incorporates the latest technology (i.e., suitable for 4-D). This development is an important step for Fugro to achieve its goals of modernizing the fleet and reaching the intended capacity of approximately eight vessels for marine seismic work.
Chevron North Sea Ltd. has awarded a five-year contract to Bristow Helicopters Ltd. for helicopter services in the North Sea and West of Shetland. The contract starts in January 2006 with extension options. As part of the contract award, Bristow will also provide helicopter services for Amerada Hess Ltd. and Britannia Operator Ltd. The contract involves the use of one of Bristow’s new 3rd generation Eurocopter EC225 helicopters and further provision from Bristow’s pool of AS332L Tigers. The contract expands a 12-year logistics-sharing arrangement between Amerada Hess and Chevron.
Atwood Oceanic's Southern Cross
Houston-basedAtwood Oceanics, Inc. has secured a contract from Toreador Turkey Ltd. To drill three wells off the coast of Turkey. The drilling rig Atwood Southern Cross will be used at a dayrate for all wells of $125,000. Toreador will provide a tow vessel and dayrate for the mobilization of the rig and the obligation to demobilize the rig on dayrate from the Black Sea. The drilling is expected to take 90 days to complete for all three wells, and is expected to begin in September or October 2006.
Engineering consulting companyEDGhas tapped software developerViasys Limitedto help manage procurement projects through its Material Advantage software. EDG provides project management and engineering consulting services to the upstream and midstream oil and gas industries out of its offices in Houston, New Orleans and Lafayette, Louisiana and Luanda, Angola. EDG identified the need for a system to manage its procurement process and thus deliver a more integrated service to its clients. Material Advantage was selected, because it was deemed to offer great value and an identifiable ROI. Viasys’ technical staff provided on-site installation and configuration services, followed by comprehensive staff training, meaning that after a short period, EDG were able to “go live”.
Cooper Cameron Corp.has acquired nearly all of the businesses in the Flow Control segment ofDresser, Inc.The closing of the Brazilian portion of the business is awaiting Brazilian regulatory confirmation of transfer of operating permits, and is expected to be complete in early 2006. The acquisition had a price tag of $224 million in cash, and the businesses acquired serve customers worldwide in the oil and gas production and pipeline and process markets.
Esso Exploration Angola (Block15) Ltd. has awardedSaipem a lump sum turnkey contract for the Marimba field development in Block 15, approximately 150 km west of Soyo, offshore Angola. The field will tie back to the existing facilities at Kizomba A. The contract involves engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of subsea lines in a water depth of approximately 1,200 m. Activities will be carried out by Saibos FDS and Saipem 3000 construction vessels.
Saipem received a second contract from Mexico’s national oil company, Pemex Exploracion y Produccion for the offshore transport and installation of six platforms relating to the Ku-Maloob-Zaap field complex development in the Bay of Campeche, 105 km northwest of Ciudad del Carmen. The vesselSaipem 7000 will carry out the transportation and installation activities in the second half of 2006. Thai Oil has also awarded Saipem the contract to provide unloading facilities to supply oil to a refinery in Sri Racha in the Gulf of Siam, approximately 200 km southeast of Bangkok. The work encompasses the design, procurement, fabrication, installation and pre-commissioning of an unloading Single Point Mooring buoy that will accommodate tankers along with a 52 inch pipeline and relevant land receiving facilities. The vessel Castoro Otto will carry out offshore laying activities. Project completion is expected in summer 2007.
Aberdeen-based oil and gas service operatorPetrofachas received a Letter of Intent from CNR International Ltd. to provide suppoer services for four fixed installations in the UK Continental Shelf comprising the Ninian and Murchison fields.Petrofachas provided services to these facilities since the mid 1990’s, when they were under the ownership of Kerr-McGee. CNR acquired them in December 2002. The contract has a value of $35 million and will begin in 2006 for an initial five-year term.
Blue Sky Network has been chosen to provide global satellite logistics to ExxonMobil Global Services Co. for operations in remote locations without an existing communications infrastructure. Blue Sky Network will provide all aspects of transportation asset tracking and communication services to ExxonMobil’s affiliated companies on a global basis. The affiliates will be able to monitor the location and safety of cargo and passengers continuously while onboard any type of transportation vessel. They will additionally be able to use the technology for voice connections and to send and receive messages between remote mobile assets and operation bases.
